I’ve done several hundred rappel tests over the past two months and wanted to share my findings. Using oplux 8mm, Sterling Hollow Block autoblock (French prusik) below the ATC and every combination of seven different tube style belay/rappel devices and six different carabiners. Testing without an autoblock was done from 6', testing with an autoblock was done from 25'. Nothing scientific here, just me testing a bunch of different devices to see what works best for me and makes me feel safe.
My main goal was to see if any of these rappel/biner combinations would lock me in place without the autoblock engaged. The only one that did was the Edelrid Micro Jul, BUT, it's thin stainless-steel walls chewed up the aluminum biner pretty good (first image below) after only a few rappels, which looks like it could chew up my rope pretty badly, so that biner has been decommissioned. It probably wouldn't have the same effect on a steel biner, but it also was not a very smooth rap down because of too much friction. It also required you to rotate the device in order to unlock/descend, so it was a two-handed operation. Since I leave my main prusik connected to the tether above the ATC during a rappel, I already need to keep my left hand on that to keep it loose on the way down. This is my backup if anything goes wrong with the ATC/autoblock and works great for me.
The seven belay/rappel devices tested:
Black Diamond ATC Sport
Black Diamond ATC-XP
Ito Rocky ATC XP
Edelrid Micro Jul
Petzl Verso
Metolius BRD
Grivel Master Mono
Five carabiners tested:
Madrock
Black Diamond Vaporlock Magnetron
Black Diamond Gridlock Magnetron
Grivel Mega HMS Twin Gate
Black Diamond Rocklock Magnetron
I found that biners with round edges didn't seem to provide as much friction as the ones with the T shaped ridges. The
BD Vaporlock Magnetron has the T shape throughout the entire biner; the Grivel Mega HMS has the T shape only at the top, as shown here.
.
Using two carabiner's in the "3" mode shown below provided even more friction, but as I got better and built up more confidence, I found the single biner worked just as well.
While the rappel devices all worked well with this setup, the ATC Sport and Grivel Master Mono required the least amount of force with my breaking hand and gave the smoothest rap down. They were also the lightest/smallest of them all.
Note: I'm not interested in using/testing mechanical belay devices, simply because I was only able to find one recall on tubular style devices from the past two decades, but found several recalls on mechanicals, so I trust the tube style/autoblock combo more because it has no moving parts.
In summary, the ATC Sport and Grivel Master Mono were keepers when combined with the Black Diamond Vaporlock Magnetron and the Grivel Mega HMS Twin Gate (when used with narrow end up aginst the rap device). I purchased the Grivel from DanO and the ATC Sport on Amazon.
What's your favorite tubular ATC device with oplux?
Sent from up in a tree
My main goal was to see if any of these rappel/biner combinations would lock me in place without the autoblock engaged. The only one that did was the Edelrid Micro Jul, BUT, it's thin stainless-steel walls chewed up the aluminum biner pretty good (first image below) after only a few rappels, which looks like it could chew up my rope pretty badly, so that biner has been decommissioned. It probably wouldn't have the same effect on a steel biner, but it also was not a very smooth rap down because of too much friction. It also required you to rotate the device in order to unlock/descend, so it was a two-handed operation. Since I leave my main prusik connected to the tether above the ATC during a rappel, I already need to keep my left hand on that to keep it loose on the way down. This is my backup if anything goes wrong with the ATC/autoblock and works great for me.
The seven belay/rappel devices tested:
Black Diamond ATC Sport
Black Diamond ATC-XP
Ito Rocky ATC XP
Edelrid Micro Jul
Petzl Verso
Metolius BRD
Grivel Master Mono
Five carabiners tested:
Madrock
Black Diamond Vaporlock Magnetron
Black Diamond Gridlock Magnetron
Grivel Mega HMS Twin Gate
Black Diamond Rocklock Magnetron
I found that biners with round edges didn't seem to provide as much friction as the ones with the T shaped ridges. The
BD Vaporlock Magnetron has the T shape throughout the entire biner; the Grivel Mega HMS has the T shape only at the top, as shown here.
.
Using two carabiner's in the "3" mode shown below provided even more friction, but as I got better and built up more confidence, I found the single biner worked just as well.
While the rappel devices all worked well with this setup, the ATC Sport and Grivel Master Mono required the least amount of force with my breaking hand and gave the smoothest rap down. They were also the lightest/smallest of them all.
Note: I'm not interested in using/testing mechanical belay devices, simply because I was only able to find one recall on tubular style devices from the past two decades, but found several recalls on mechanicals, so I trust the tube style/autoblock combo more because it has no moving parts.
In summary, the ATC Sport and Grivel Master Mono were keepers when combined with the Black Diamond Vaporlock Magnetron and the Grivel Mega HMS Twin Gate (when used with narrow end up aginst the rap device). I purchased the Grivel from DanO and the ATC Sport on Amazon.
What's your favorite tubular ATC device with oplux?
Sent from up in a tree
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